Boiling rice the Japanese way / Riisin keittäminen japanilaisittainhttp://japan.foximity.net/rdf.php/index.php?entry=entry130921-223252
Sometime ago I did some experimenting with rice boiling, and researched some Japanese web pages and stuff. Then I tried to boil the Finnish "porridge rice" (puuroriisi) the Japanese way, and it turns out the results are quite close to the Japanese rice!

So, I decided to translate one recipe I found over the net. Here we go!

Boiling rice the Japanese way

put some water and rice into the pot. The amount of water is not yet critical, because the rice is just washed first. Use your hands to gently wash the rice. After the water becomes whitey, throw the water away. (you can just pour the water or use a sieve alternatively). Then repeat this step few times. The last time the water should still be somewhat white.

Next, having the rice in the pot, add water again. This time, just leave it in the water for about 30 minutes. The rice should change it's color a little (see the rightmost picture of step 2. in source article) After time has passed, pour the water away and if you have a sieve, pour the rice in the sieve and shake it a little to drop the unnecessary water.

This is the hardest part: you need to measure same volume of water as the volume of the rice. To do this, use a cup or something, and fill it with the rice. Do this as many times as necessary and count how many cups the rice takes. You can pour the rice back to the pot after measuring. Then, using the same cup, measure same amount of cups of water and pour it to the pot too. (again, see the pictures of this step in the original article). Make sure you flatten the surface of the poured rice, so that there is no hills or valleys.

Close the lid and set the stove to half power. Remember to keep the lid closed all the time during this step. (If you're boiling more than 700 grams at once, use stronger power from the beginning ) Then wait until the water starts to boil. Let the water boil for about 2 minutes still with half power. Then drop the power to about 1/4 of full power and boil for about 3 minutes. Then drop the power once more and boil from 5 to 7 minutes.

Take the lid of, and check the if the rice is still watery. If it is, put the lid back on and boil for 2 minutes using the low power. Then check again and repeat if necessary.

When the rice is not watery anymore, turn the stove to full power for 10 seconds. After that turn the stove off and let the cooked rice steam for 10 minutes. Remember to keep the lid closed during this. You can use kitchen paper or clean cloth between the pot and the lid to prevent the condensated water from dropping back on the rice.

Last, mix the rice somewhat using a large spoon or such. Then you're ready, meshiagare! (Japanese, meaning have a nice meal)

Puuroriisi paketti:]]>Back in Finlandhttp://japan.foximity.net/rdf.php/index.php?entry=entry120706-155706
Got loads of things to do here..

so I'll write a longer post later when I can!

see you!]]>so my exchange year is coming to an endhttp://japan.foximity.net/rdf.php/index.php?entry=entry120619-004553
Hello everyone.

I have been really busy few last weeks so I haven't written anything much here. Sorry about that!

I have now less than two weeks left here and I got some last minute stuff to do.. Like sending stuff that won't fit in my luggage to Finland and so on.

Next weekend I'm going to a famous amusement park called Fujikyuu, and next weeks every evening is booked with somekind of goodbye party..

So, last weeks gonna be busy week also ^^ But I don't mind. On 29th I will go to Nagoya and on 1st I'll start my long journey back.

See you then, my readers!

]]>I'm back in Kobe!http://japan.foximity.net/rdf.php/index.php?entry=entry120516-084808
I arrived back in Kobe on day 34 and have been here for few days now, taking part in the club activities.

after I stayed in Wakayama, I headed to Osaka and when I was there, I felt I might go all the way to Kobe that night as well. And so I did.

Well, I'm safe and well and all that,

see you again!]]>Day 32: My travels are over soon I guesshttp://japan.foximity.net/rdf.php/index.php?entry=entry120509-042500
I'm now in Tokushima. On day 30 I came down from Takamatsu and stopped in Naruto. On day 31, I went to see the Naruto whirlpools in Naruto strait. First, I went to walkway built under the motorway bridge. Here some pics from there

Then I decided to take a boat ride too although it was bit expensive. Some pictures from the boat

And last, some pictures from day 27 and 28.

First, Kouchi's specialty, some kind of raw fish, "Katsuo no tataki" is the name of the dish. Very delicious.

And then, a canyon in the mountains near city of Miyoshi.

Now I'm waiting for ferry back to Honshuu(the main island) and will rest in Wakayama for a day(because it will probably rain) and tomorrow I'll go to Osaka.

I used different color for different days, but I didn't mark days spent in the same place.

I hope you like it!]]>Day 27: In Kouchihttp://japan.foximity.net/rdf.php/index.php?entry=entry120504-161531
Hello again!

Today I reached Kouchi, after long trip from Oozu. I did something I wanted to do for long time, took a dip in the mountain river on the way.

It was really cold, and refreshing!

Next I went on and on, and the road just got smaller and there was only fields and old houses around; the real countryside! In the rice paddies, there was lots of small water lizards or something..

It started getting dark.. and then it was suddenly really dark. The road was small and steep, and there was lots of curves too. There werent anyone anywhere and I was getting ready to battle boar or whatever that might come from the mountain forests. Finally, I started seeing lights and reaches small town called Doi.

Then, I was thinking about going all the way to Kouchi... Until I saw lights on the riverbed.

I saw few tents there and thought, maybe it's an actual camping site. And it was. So I went down there and started setting up my tent. Although the moon was lighting up the night, someone came with a lamp and asked me to use it. Next, other guy came and asked if I have eaten yet, because they got some boar meat they were gooing to grill. Funny how I was thinking about battling boars and then I end up eating one...

I spent fun evening with everyone, and took this pic in the morning:

I packed up and said goodbyes, everyone waved when I looked down from the bridge.

Then some more pictures.

part of Children's day's festival

Castle in Kouchi

and castle in Oozu

Bye now!

]]>day 25: almost a month on the roadhttp://japan.foximity.net/rdf.php/index.php?entry=entry120502-074856

On day 22, I left Kumamoto and headed for Ooita. I stayed one night in tent.. and in the morning it started raining. I had no choice but to continue, and on day 23's evening, I reached Ooita tired and wet.

There I found really nice netcafe which gave free ticket to nearby onsen. Then, on day 24, I went to Saganoseki and took the ferry.

In Shikoku it is damn mountainous and my bicycle had some problems too. I'm bit afraid there something badly broken.. But then, it seemed to fix by itself. I hope it wont get stuck like that again.

Anyways, I reached my destination dead tired, and still partly wet.

I'm pretty sure the hotel staff wouldn't have been glad to see this setting

but i managed to get most of the stuff dry. Today it's little bit rainy.. But I think I can go onward few kilometers(especially because the netcafe here is not open 24h so I can't stay there..) to Oozu.from there, I will head to Kouchi, takes a day or two to reach there.

And last, some pictures!

First, the ropeway(which I didnt use) to the top of Unzen mountain.

Some local lemonade

That's where I came from to Unzen. Seems to be far..

open until 1 am.. and 3 minutes over

The local specialty in Kumamoto, Raw horse. Tasty it was

This is view from Aso city, famous for the views from the Mt. Aso.

This looks like those fly eating flowers..

And guess what this is? I give you a hint, it was called "Melody road"

Ok! see you next time! ^^

]]>Day 21: I stayed at mt. Unzenhttp://japan.foximity.net/rdf.php/index.php?entry=entry120428-040803
Hi! Let's start with continuation from day 17.

I arrived in Shimabara and cycled towards Nagasaki city. When there was only 16 km left, I thought I was almost there. But starting from there, it was uphill all the way. About 2 km away from the city, it became downhill, but I had to hold mmy breaks all the time..

In Nagasaki, I went to Nagasaki station, because usually netcafe's and bicycle parking are near the station. To my surprise, there was no bicycle parking, and no netcafes. Nagasaki is apparently bit diffrent from other cities in Japan, especially when it comes to bicycles..

Anyways, I just parked my bicycle in front of the netcafe I finally found and had some rest. The next day I went for some sightseeing. The old and new china town. It was raining heavily, so I decided to stay one day more, to climb a nearby mountain, Inasa. So I did, climbed the mountain and stayed one more night in Nagasaki. and yesterday, I left Nagasaki to go back to Kumamoto and onward. on the way I thought I'd go to Unzen, which seemed to be famous for some reason. There were some amazing hot springs there, you could see the steam and smell the sulphur.

There was a risk of being late for the ferry, so I decided to stay at some hotel on the top of the mountain, even though I knew it would be bit expensive.. 6000 yen with Japanese breakfast. and that was cheapest, and most hotels didnt even have rooms for only one person.

Last, I'll give you some pictures.

Eggs boiled in the hot spring.

Now, I'll continue my trip to Kumamoto, and from there towards Shikoku! Bye!

]]>Day 17: I left Kumamoto for Nagasakihttp://japan.foximity.net/rdf.php/index.php?entry=entry120424-065722
I spend splendid two days in Kumamoto, mostly thanks to my friend.

We went to Suizenji park on the day arrived

After that we went to Kumamoto castle

The picture actually taken by my friend few weeks before though.

Here are two pics I took later on day 15: a crab in the middle of the road(it started escaping really fast when i took the photo)